We all need grounding practices in our lives. As we begin or continue our journey to abstain from alcoholism, we need create rituals to help us keep grounded and focused to keep us doing our best work. By staying grounded, we can strive to stay sober, live healthy, and share our feeling openly with others.

So what is a ritual? And how will it help myself or others?

A ritual is simply a sequence of activities that we can create on our own. It could be as simple as a gesture, a few words, even an object that is performed in a certain place, and performed according to set sequence. Think of it as “You always brush your teeth before bed”, or “You always make yourself a cup of coffee after you make your toast”.

Simple right? But there are also two different kinds of rituals. Both positive and negative.

Everyday, we need to continue to empower ourselves on how to be more effective with our choices. By turning our thoughts into value on a day to day basis so that we can better ourselves and share our insights and feelings with others.

By establishing that our thoughts have value, not only to ourselves, but to others, we can then start to develop an infrastructure, or a home base that we can go back to no matter what is going on in our lives.

Negative rituals are assumed behaviors that we found to be once succesful. Examples could be “When faced with deadlines, we blame others for not getting the job done in a timely fashion”, or “Instead of asking for help during a critical time in your life, you opt to drink to hide your emotions”.

When we choose these behaviors, we’re less likely to be able to cope with the expectations to produce exceptional work all the time. Thus leading to destructive behaviors, such as using alcohol to relieve stress.

How do we deal with the additional pressure from these bad behaviors? By simply creating a positive ritual.

When you are faced with an obstacle or challenge, no matter how big or how small, create a positive ritual by asking for help.

If you are given a chance to reward yourself, create a positive ritual by not choosing alcohol. Choose an activity that would provide a positive impact on your life.

Alcoholis.MN is a platform founded by Ryan Dahlberg to create and share awareness of the effects and insight of this disease.